“If you’re going to talk about what I did, let’s do it in front of the club,” Hunter cut in coldly. “Let them decide whether I need to be punished, but let’s not sweet talk the situation, either. Let’s tell them every fucking detail, right down to what I saw in that fucking bedroom with that little girl. How many patched members in our club are fathers? How many of them have little girls? Let’s see how angry they’ll be at me for ridding the world of a man like him.”
Roy ran a hand down his face, massaging his temples now as he let out a long breath. “I’m not saying the fucker didn’t deserve to die!”
“Then what’s the problem?”
“We had to kill everyone else in that fucking house, too.”
“Oh, you had to kill the drug effected paedophiles.” Hunter feigned dismay, his lips curling into a cold smile. “I’m fucking sorry to put that kind of blood on your hands, Roy.”
Roy didn’t respond, but he peered at Hunter with such unease, Hunter recognized fear when he saw it. It was no easy feat to terrify a man like Roy.
“You gave me a clear role in the start,” Hunter said just then, his voice low, at ease. “I clean up the problem. I make sure we eliminate the threat. I can track, I can kill, I can make any fucking man sing under my blade. No one can stomach what I do—”
“That doesn’t give you permission to act as you want,” Roy cut in tiredly. “You’re supposed to follow orders.”
“And I do,” Hunter retorted. “I follow every order I’m given, but don’t expect the beast to stay hidden when I’m up against evil. The fucks in that house were strays from the streets, completely unmissed. Your contact is highly replaceable because we know who he reaches out to, so we’ll just cut the fucking middle-man out and deal with the cartel direct. They’ll come to us on their own anyway when they realize that man’s bitten the dust, and they won’t be surprised by it, either, Roy, because they hire those kinds of monsters anyway.”
Roy watched Hunter for a few moments seeming startled. “You’re too young to behave so confidently, Hunt.”
“I don’t think age has anything to do with it,” Hunt replied flatly.
Roy nodded slowly, saying nothing now as they looked at one another. Hunter was way too experienced in their world already. It made him seem older than he was. He was going to elevate the ranks in no time, and he knew it, too. Knew it strongly enough to demand, “I’m not taking on anymore hits, Roy. I’m beyond that now. If you give me a job, it has to be for the sake of advancing the club, but I’m not going to get my hands bloodied and risk my freedom. I got my patch now, I’ve proven myself. No one can rip it from me—Islavedfor it.”
“I have no intention of ripping it off you,” Roy murmured softly.
“You told me after my father beat me to within an inch of my life that the club does not accept that sort of behaviour. That kids are fucking pure, that they deserve every chance to thrive and feel safe—”
“That still remains true.”
Hunter’s anger grew tenfold as he gritted out, “So make sure your contacts aren’t those kinds of men.”
Hunter wiped his mouth with a napkin and threw it down on the plate, and then, just like that, he stood up and sauntered away from Roy, putting an end to the conversation. Hunter could feel Roy’s eyes burning a hole into his back as he trailed Skye. Hunter didn’t care—let him watch him, let him see that he was not going to be tamed on matters like these.
Skye swallowed down her laughter as he shadowed her, waiting patiently for her to finish out her afternoon shift. Then he picked her up in his strong arms and carried her back to their room.